Ireland is on the verge of a wave of home repossessions, mortgage debt expert warns

David Hall

4 Aug 2019, 8:15

FOR years, David Hall has warned that a tsunami of home repossessions was imminent.

The reason, the Irish Mortgage Holders boss insists, is because vulture funds are going to find it much easier to boot people in mortgage arrears out of their homes than the traditional banks.

2

Smiling vultures are bad news for families in mortgage debt

His comments have drawn some criticism, and he was even challenged by RTE ­Morning Ireland presenter Gavin Jennings last month on a series of bold predictions made between 2014 and 2018.

Today in the Irish Sun on Sunday, DAVID HALL explains why he believes he will be proven right.

When politicians, mandarins and central bankers unite about an issue some form of conspiracy against the public is occurring.

And even those who do not have a suspicious nature would be intrigued by the collective of state bodies and politicians who are on the attack over claims I have made about a Tsunami of repossessions.

2

For years, David Hall has warned that a tsunami of home repossessions was imminent

The attacks might have been impressive if they were accurate.

But they are not. There has not been a Tsunami of repossessions yet …but that is because the Vultures have been biding their time.

There are two factors behind this delay.

One reason is that the Vultures have, up to recently, focused on commercial property and are only now moving on to the family home market.

They are getting a taste for it too, to such an extent, Link Group, which manages thousands of distressed mortgages for the Cerberus vulture fund, described Ireland as “the gift that keeps giving.”

Smiling vultures are bad news for family homeowners and no amount of spin can hide this.

WORKING HARD TO BLOCK THE TSUNAMI

The second factor is that I, the Irish Mortgage Holders Organization (IMHO) and others have been working hard to hold back the Tsunami.

Many legal cases delayed the many vultures. The time gap this has created has allowed a certain myth to develop about the kind and gentle socially aware Vulture Fund.

Sadly, the truth is that there are no snowflake Vulture Funds.

The reality is that Vultures prey on people that have debt issues.

That won’t change when it comes to the Irish. However final decisions in a series of recent cases have ended that phase of the battle.

The door has finally been opened and the vultures are gathering.

'DISPOSABLE CASUALTIES'

Some Vulture Advocates have criticised me on the curious grounds that I do not remind people that 9,200 families have already lost their homes.

I would respectfully suggest the 30,000 people involved, not unreasonably, feel the Tsunami has hit them already.

Our Vulture Advocates see these as statistics on the ECB balance sheet.

They are disposable casualties of the determination of the government and the Central Banks and the banks to outsource an Irish problem to foreign Vulture Funds.

I see it differently. In doing so I admit to having some skin in this game. I set up with others the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation, one of only two debt charities in the state in 2012.

HELPED MORE THAN 13,000

We have helped over 13,000 people with their indebtedness. We, with respect to the Vulture Advocates, are at the coal face. We are the ones who are doing not talking. In tandem with Personal

Insolvency Practitioners, MABS, FLAC, Phoenix Project and the court service we have held back the tsunami by finding solutions where possible. But thousands can’t be helped and will lose their homes.

Bizarrely, instead of helping these people a state sponsored cabal of Vulture Advocates have chosen to engage in personalized attacks about Tsunamis.

They should instead note that the vultures are reaching endgame when it comes to the sale of family homes. As proof of this I recently showed the Oireachtas Finance Committee offers made to vultures to buy houses to keep people in their homes that required a 12% discount and the Vulture refused.

Our research also reveals that even where the Housing Agency decides that mortgage holders qualify for a debt settlement Vulture Funds turn down most qualifying cases. The reason Start

UP TO HALF OF 30,000 HOUSEHOLDS IN LONG TERM ARREARS

Mortgages rejected 85% of cases and Pepper, on our figures 79% of qualifying cases for mortgage to rent, is that the rising market means that eviction is now more lucrative for Vulture Funds than selling to the sort of approved housing body that will keep people in their homes.

The Central Bank in April last year indicated up to half of 30,000 householders in long term arrears risk losing their home. This means 16,000 family homes involving 60,000 men, women, children, parents, grandparents and grandchildren are in trouble. This is in any normal person’s language a Tsunami.

MOST READ IN MONEY

LESS OF A CHORE

Aldi Ireland selling a heated clothes airer for a bargain price this week

card pints

Irish supermarket shoppers to 'lose out on loyalty points for booze purchases'

HOME SWEET HOME

Aldi Ireland's €29.99 pink velvet storage stool set to sell out in new line

Two irelands

Richest and poorest areas revealed in new map that shows how nation is divided

NOT LEFT IN COLD

CASH BOOST

Irish workers warned they could be missing out on €135 a week on family scheme

Sadly, those who are in most danger are families who earn more than the social housing threshold.

They are not dodgers or chancers.

They are instead the people who get up early to go to work or are trying to get a better paid job and despite all the prating by our Vulture Advocates in well paid government gigs or promotion hunting TD’s no amount of state-sponsored spin will deter me from defending them.